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Mark Richt backing off his comments about moving Florida-Georgia game

DESTIN — Urban Meyer and Lane Kiffin aren’t the only SEC football coaches who have had to play damage control after making a controversial comment at a booster club meeting.

Georgia’s Mark Richt made waves this month when he suggested in plain English that Jacksonville is not really a neutral site for the Florida-Georgia game, and that the Bulldogs should try to get the game moved to the Georgia Dome every so often.

Richt was asked again Tuesday about what he believes is best for the future of the Florida-Georgia game, and apparently it’s the big bad media’s fault for twisting Richt’s words and blowing it out of proportion.

“Here’s the deal — I don’t know the answer to that, and I’m not going answer any questions on that because every time I say something it becomes a much bigger deal than it is,” Richt said at the SEC spring meetings. “All I can tell you is somebody asked me awhile back, do I think it as neutral? I said, ‘I really don’t think it’s neutral, no,’ but everybody wants to make a big stink about, ‘Should we change the game?’ and all that. I don’t care where we play the game, quite frankly.”

Actually, Richt said a little more than “I really don’t think it’s neutral.” His quotes, from the AJC story:

“When people ask me the question, ‘Do you really think [Jacksonville] is a neutral site?’, I say, ‘No, it’s not neutral,’ ” Richt said. “When you play in the state of Florida every year — we fly, they drive; it’s hotter for us, it’s cooler for them. … It’s played in a stadium that [used to be called] the Gator Bowl. I wouldn’t feel bad having a ‘neutral site’ game in Georgia — in the Georgia Dome.”

Meyer said last week he is “100 percent” against moving the game from Jacksonville, the site of the game every year since 1933 except two.

“When you drive in there’s no home-field advantage,” Meyer said. “That’s one of the cool things, you drive over the bridge and and go in and it’s 50-50 right down that middle. I’ve talked to a lot of Georgia people that love it where it’s at.”